Moses and the Burning Bush

Claude

Summary

A reproduction produced by the Vasari Society of a drawing by Claude. The drawing shows the biblical story of Moses and the burning bush. The figure of Moses is in the centre of the drawing, holding a staff. A bush is just to the right of the figure, though it is not clearly ablaze in this drawing. There is a tall rocky area rising up on the left-hand side with a tree growing out of the side, and there are several trees in the wider landscape surrounding. The sun is low in the sky. There appear to be some animals, perhaps sheep, grazing in the bottom right-hand corner. Text from the accompanying booklet produced by the Vasari Society: "22. CLAUDE (b. 1600; d. 1682) MOSES AND THE BURNING BUSH Collection of the Duke of Devonshire, K.G., Chatsworth. Pen and bistre and bistre wash. 15.6 x 20.8 cm. (6 1/8 x 8 3/16 in.). Engraved by R. Earlom in his sequel to the Liber Veritatis, vol. iii, 1819, No. 95. The subject of Moses and the Burning Bush was painted by Claude for Monseigneur de Bourlemont, Archbishop of Toulouse, in 1664, and the picture is now preserved at Bridgewater House. The composition is recorder in another drawing at Chatsworth, in the Liber Veritatis, and engraved as No. 161 in Earlom's series of mezzotints. There is still another drawing of the subject at Chatsworth, engraved as No. 99 in Earlom's sequel to the Liber Veritatis, and a fourth version in the British Museum (Vaughan Bequest, 1900-8-24-154; from the Earl Spencer Collection, and engraved by Earlom in his sequel, No. 46). The present example is the furthest removed from the painted version, the chief variation being in the figure of Moses standing instead of kneeling. A. M. H. [Mrs. Mark Pattison, Claude Lorrain, Paris, 1884, p. 281, No. 8; The Masterpieces of Claude, published by Gowans and Gray, p. 17.]"